Table of Contents
CHICAGO – For the 12th consecutive year, all U.S. Walmart and Sam's Club locations are teaming up with their customers, members, suppliers and associates for the Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign to support the Feeding America network of partner food banks.
The annual donation campaign, running March 1-31, kicks off a celebration of 20 years of partnership between Walmart, Sam's Club and Feeding America that's grown into one of the most transformative collaborations in the hunger relief space – with approximately $271 million in donations – including more than $177 million from the company and the Walmart Foundation and nearly $95 million from customers and members. Walmart and Sam's Club have also donated more than 9 billion pounds of food to the Feeding America network of local food banks and partner agencies since 2006.
"Our extraordinary partnership is grounded in a shared belief that ending hunger in America is possible," said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, Feeding America's CEO. "For two decades, Walmart and Sam's Club have brought bold, impactful ideas to the table, and executed them consistently and with purpose. We are grateful for all they've done and all that's to come."
The Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign will run online and in stores from March 1-March 31. Shoppers have three easy ways to support people facing hunger:
- For every participating product purchased in store or online at Walmart.com or SamsClub.com, the supplier will donate the monetary equivalent of at least one meal* ($0.10) on behalf of a Feeding America partner food bank at Walmart and five meals* ($0.50) at Sam's Club, up to applicable limits. See specially marked packages for full details.
- Donate at check-out in stores or clubs or online at Walmart.com and the Walmart app.
- Donate at Feeding America's Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign site at either www.FeedingAmerica.org/Walmart or www.FeedingAmerica.org/SamsClub.
During the campaign, all donations stay local. Sales-activated supplier donations and register donations are directed to a local Feeding America partner food bank located within a store or club's community. Since its inception in 2014, the campaign has helped to secure nearly 2 billion meals* for people facing hunger.
"For the past 20 years, Feeding America, Walmart and Sam's Club have collaborated to help people live better in the communities we serve. Together, we have supported the charitable meal system's ability to recover more food donations from retailers and use tech-powered solutions that help food banks and agencies serve more people," said Julie Gehrki, president of the Walmart Foundation and senior vice president at Walmart. "The Fight Hunger Spark Change. campaign is another way we build support for the fight against hunger by engaging our suppliers, customers and members to join us in giving to local food banks across the U.S."
Walmart and Feeding America's partnership began in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when Walmart Foundation made a $1 million donation for disaster relief.
In addition to more disaster relief support – including major gifts in the wake of Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024 – multi-year investments from Walmart and Walmart Foundation have helped fund Feeding America's efforts to maximize food sourcing and sharing, as well as to expand its capacity to source and distribute food more efficiently to households experiencing food insecurity.
Walmart and the Walmart foundation have funded retail agency capacity grants totaling $15.75 million – including a $9.75 million donation in 2024 – that have reached more than 20 food banks and hundreds of partner agencies across the country. The grants expand retail donation programs and help fund personnel, equipment and transportation solutions that result in increased amounts of food distributed to partner agencies, including food pantries and meal programs.
Those grants have helped equip programs like the Rolling Store Food Pantry, an agency partner of the Heart of Alabama Food Bank which has for years been operated out of a school bus in and around Montgomery, Alabama. With a recent grant, program lead Jeremy Lynch bought a refrigerated freezer trailer, allowing the group to safely transport more perishable donated food to distribution events in several rural counties.
"It's been a game changer for sure," Lynch said, noting the new trailer system helped distribute food to about 8,500 families in 2024. Beyond the increased frequency of pickups and pounds of food, the convenience of the new trailer affords Lynch and his fellow volunteers more capacity and more time to help their communities by standing up a sustainable program. "These grants are making an impact that's far-reaching and that's something you can't really put a number to," he said.
The 24 participating suppliers for this year's Fight Hunger. Spark Change campaign for Walmart include: B&G Foods, Inc., Ben's Original, Bush Brothers & Company, Celsius, The Coca-Cola Company, Conagra Foods, Dole Packaged Foods, LLC, Ferrero USA, General Mills, Hershey Salty Snacks, Hidden Valley Original Ranch, Kellanova, Keurig Dr. Pepper, Kodiak, Kraft Heinz, Lipton Tea, Materne, Mondelez International, Olipop, Pepsi-Cola Advertising & Marketing, Inc., The Hain Celestial Group, WK Kellogg Co, Unilever and Utz Quality Foods.
The six participating suppliers for Sam's Club include: General Mills, Kellanova, Kodiak, Kraft Heinz, Nestlé and Unilever.
To learn more about the campaign, visit https://www.feedingamerica.org/campaigns/fight-hunger-spark-change.
